New Delhi: Surendra Koli, the prime accused in the infamous Nithari case in 2005-2006, has now received a clean chit from his last remaining murder case after 19 years by the Supreme Court of India on Tuesday, November 11.
Earlier, the court had issued a death penalty to Surendra on charges of rape and murder, but the top court was hearing the petition filed by Surendra against its judgment in 2011. In the previous judgment, Surendra was convicted of the killing of a 15-year-old girl. Still, the Supreme Court confirmed his conviction was based merely on the statement and the recovery of the knife.
This was the 13th case against him, and before this, he had been acquitted in cases. Now, Surendra is a free man, as no cases have been filed against him after a decade.
The Nithari case is among the few crimes in our nation that shook humanity and created an atmosphere of fear in Noida. The Nithari killing came into the limelight in December 2006, when 16 human skulls, skeletal remains, and fragments of clothes were found in a drain behind bungalow number D-5, Sector 31, Nithari.
Timeline of Nithari killings:
December 30, 2006: A day later, when 16 human skulls startled everyone across the nation, several more skeletons were found in the area. Five policemen were also suspended for mishandling the probe, as some parents allegedly complained that their children had gone missing over the past two years.
January 11, 2007: The investigation was transferred to CBI, and 16 charge sheets were filed against him, including cases for murder, rape, and more. The co-accused, Moninder Singh Pandher, was charged with only a single case under the Immoral Trafficking Act. But later, five more cases were added by the trial court.
February 13, 2009: The main accused, Surendra, and co-accused, Pandher, were awarded the death penalty by the Ghaziabad court.
May 12, 2010: Surender was awarded another death penalty in the second case related to the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl and abduction.
September 28, 2010: The court issued another death penalty in the third case of a nine-year-old girl.
2010 TO 2012: Kohli was awarded death penalties in three more cases, involving a 12-year-old and a 9-year-old.
October 7 to December 16, 2016: Koli was awarded the death penalty in a 25-year-old domestic help rape case and in the Nithari case, related to a 12-year-old girl.
July 22, 2017: Both the accused and the co-main accused were awarded death penalties in Pinky Sarkar’s case.
December 8, 2017: Both were again awarded death penalties in the ninth case related to the murder of a domestic help.
March 2, 2019: The prime accused was given the death penalty in the 10th Nithari case related to the murder of a 14-year-old girl.
April 6, 2019: The co-accused received a clean chit, as no evidence was found against him in all the cases. Whereas the court gave another death penalty judgment to Surendra for the murder of a 10-year-old girl.
January 16, 2021: Surendra was sentenced to another death penalty in the 12th Nithari case, but on the other hand, Moninder was acquitted.
March 26, 2021: Surendra was exonerated by the Ghaziabad court in the 13th case against him for abduction, attempted rape, and murder. This marked the first case in which the court acquitted Surendra.
October 16, 2023: The Allahabad High Court acquitted both Surendra and Moninder.
May 3, 2024: The Supreme Court of India issued notice on a plea against exonerated Surendra.
April 3, 2025: The top court began the hearing on appeal.
July 30, 2025: The Supreme Court rejected all 14 appeals against the Allahabad High Court’s verdict for freeing Surendra and Moninder.
October 7, 2025: The top court reversed its decision and gave a death sentence in one of the cases of Surendra.
November 11, 2025: The Judgement Day, as the top court allowed Surendra’s curative petition and freed him in all the cases.